I asked ChatGPT why it didn’t estimate the percentage chance of accuracy in a query. It admitted it couldn’t do so and said if it offered one, “I’m potentially just putting a number-shaped decoration on uncertainty.”

I asked who originated the phrase “number-shaped decoration,” and the stochastic parrot said it was an original recombination of ideas from multiple sources.

So we can mistake clever cut-and-paste for intelligence and creativity. Yes, I know there is nothing new under the sun and that everything I’ve ever said or will say was said by someone else before. I think in my case it is different, but then I would, wouldn’t I?